If you drive from Rioja to the north, you'll cross over and Alpine mountain range and abruptly come down on the other side where the road hugs the Bay of Biscay coast. Eventually you will come to San Sebastian-- once a major whaling port and now an upscale tourist destination famous for its beach, fashion, cuisine, and annual Film Festival.

The coast forms a natural harbor, and a beautiful boardwalk crawls along the perimeter.

San Sebastian is home to several fantastic restaurants, including one of the world's greatest: Arzak. We couldn't resist a visit-- in fact, we had come to San Sebastian pretty much just to have dinner at Arzak and we were delighted that the town turned out to be so charming.

Here we are in the Arzak wine cellar surrounded by some of the worlds most incredible bottles. It was an amazing experience-- like being in a library that specializes in rare, old books. Some of the vintages predated my grandparents!

Chef Juan Mari Arzak is world renown for his cuisine.

We had several different wines with dinner, but this unique white really stood out:

Anima Negra "Quibia", Falanis Vineyard, 2007 (Mallorca, Spain)grape: Premsal Blanc*in 2008 they started blending callet with the premsal, so future bottles will most likely taste different than this '07 vintage.